18 year old arrested after solo protest

Free Tibet has learned that an 18-year-old former monk was detained in mid-December following a solo protest. Tenpa carried out the protest in his native Ngaba County in eastern Tibet.

On 16 December 2016, Tenpa marched down Ngaba’s main street carrying a Tibetan national flag and a picture of the Dalai Lama. He shouted slogans calling for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet and for freedom in Tibet.

About five minutes into his protest, around ten Chinese policemen arrived at the site, beat Tenpa and carried him away. His family have received no information about his condition or whereabouts since then.

A centre of protest

Tenpa is from Meruma Township in Ngaba County. Prior to his arrest, he lived as a nomad, having previously been a monk at Ngaba's Kirti Monastery. An anonymous source described Tenpa as a person who thinks about and cares for others and someone who speaks about the issue of Tibet at public gatherings without fear.

Tenpa is one of a number of residents or former residents at Kirti Monastery to have protested against the occupation in recent years. This resistance has attracted the attention of the authorities, who last August issued monks at Kirti Monastery with a new legal textbook that warned them not to carry out protests and self-immolations because they disturbed "social stability”.

The street where Tenpa carried out his protest, known as ‘Martyrs Street’ to local Tibetans, has been the scene of a number of self-immolation protests and solo protests.

Take action

Tibetans continue to resist the occupation through protests, demonstrations and by expressing their unique culture. For their defiance they are punished with harassment, arrest and long prison sentences. Take action for Tibet’s political prisoners by writing to the Chinese authorities and telling them that the world is watching.